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ABSTRACT
A s part of the accountability movement, schools are Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Individuals with Dis-
increasingly called upon to provide interventions that are based abilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 have required
on sound scientific research and that provide measurable out-
comes for children. Brain Gym® is a popular commercial program
that whenever possible, schools must provide students with
claiming that adherence to its regimen will result in more efficient academic instruction using scientific, research-based meth-
learning in an almost miraculous manner. However, a review of the ods. Although an exact definition of scientific, research-based
theoretical foundations of Brain Gym® and the associated peer-re- methodology is not contained in either law, Browder and
viewed research studies failed to support the contentions of the Cooper-Duffy (2003) stressed the importance of using and
promoters of Brain Gym®. Educators are encouraged to become
informed consumers of research and to avoid implementing
building upon instructional methodologies that have sound
programming for which there is neither a credible theoretical nor a empirical support from high-quality research studies.
sound research basis. Brain Gym® is one popular commercial program mar-
keted in more than 80 countries (“Official Brain Gym® Web
Site,” 2005, About §) that has received a considerable amount
of attention in the press, with many individuals claiming that
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Volume 28, Number 2, March/April 2007, Pages 117–124
WHAT IS BRAIN GYM®? none of the movements include an assessment activity to de-
termine which of the three dimensions of the brain require at-
Brain Gym®, also known as educational kinesiology, was de- tention and which movement would be most appropriate. It
veloped in the 1970s by Dennison and Dennison (“Official appears that an armchair diagnosis is all that is required to
Brain Gym® Web Site,” 2005, About §, ¶ 3) and consists of a implement a movement regime that purportedly causes neu-
series of movements that purportedly activate the brain, pro- rological changes in a student.
mote neurological repatterning, and facilitate whole-brain
learning (Dennison & Dennison, 1994). The program is based
on the notion that learning problems are caused when differ- THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS
ent sections of the brain and body do not work in a coordi-
nated manner, thereby blocking an individual’s ability to The three main theoretical categories on which Brain Gym®
learn (Dennison & Dennison, 1994). To overcome this learn- is based include neurological repatterning, cerebral domi-
ing block, the program recommends a variety of simple nance, and perceptual–motor training. Although there is over-
movements that are intended to improve the integration of lap among these different theories, they are categorized by
specific brain functions with body movements. In fact, Brain their most salient features to provide some degree of structure
Gym® is described as a process for re-educating the mind and to the review.
body that would result in learning any skill more efficiently
and easily (“Official Brain Gym® Web Site,” 2005, FAQ §, ¶ 1).
Neurological Repatterning
The theoretical basis on which brain functioning is con-
ceptualized, according to Brain Gym® literature, is relatively A major foundational assumption of Brain Gym® is the idea
simplistic and described along three dimensions: laterality, of neurological repatterning, and many of its activities are
focusing, and centering (Braingym.com, 2005, What Is It based on the Doman-Delacato theory of development (Den-
§, ¶¶ 3–5; Dennison & Dennison, 1994; “Official Brain nison & Dennison, 1994). According to this recapitulationist
Gym® Web Site,” 2005, What Are Edu-K’s Three Dimensions theory, ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, meaning that the
§). Laterality refers to the coordination between the right and development of the individual mirrors the development of the
left hemispheres of the brain and is viewed as necessary for species (Crain, 2000). Thus, to achieve efficient neurological
reading, writing, listening, speaking, and the ability to move development, the individual must satisfactorily acquire spe-
and think at the same time. Focusing refers to the ability to cific motor skills during different developmental stages. If
coordinate information between the front and back portion of motor skills associated with any of the developmental stages
the brain and is related to comprehension as well as attention- have been skipped, then neurological development is hin-
deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The final dimension, centering, dered and learning abilities are limited (Doman, 1968).
refers to the coordination of the top and bottom halves of the According to Doman (1968), a child who walked before
brain, which is described as necessary to balance rational crawling missed a critical step in motor development, which
thought with emotion. Although efficient connections among could account for future difficulties with more complex neu-
various parts of the brain may foster cognitive development, rological processes such as reading. To treat this neurological
none of the Brain Gym® literature has provided research- gap, the child would be provided with exercises that mimic-
based, scientific evidence supporting this view of brain func- ked primitive motor development to ensure that movements
tioning. In fact, the Brain Gym® literature has made it sound at all stages were mastered. Accordingly, the child would be
as if the brain could be easily partitioned into different sec- taught to crawl, with the idea that this would repattern the
tions, and that simple movement activities would result in im- neurons, leaving the child neurologically intact and ready to
proved neurological development and learning for people of acquire academic skills. In a review of the Doman-Delacato
all ages. procedures, MacKay, Gollogly, and McDonald (1986) clearly
Because the developers of Brain Gym® own the copy- described the different crawling treatments associated with
right for the specific movement activities, none of these will the procedure and noted that the program was not effective in
be described in detail. However, suffice it to note that the ameliorating disabilities. Other researchers (Robbins, 1966;
movements include activities such as crawling, drawing, tracing Stone & Pielstick, 1969) had also found the Doman-Delacato
symbols in the air, yawning, and drinking water. Dennison procedures ineffective prior to the development of Brain
noted that he included yawning after becoming convinced Gym®.
that purposeful yawning had improved his eyesight (Denni- Numerous organizations have issued cautionary state-
son & Dennison, 1994) but failed to provide research support ments regarding the Doman-Delacato procedures. “The Doman-
for the link between yawning and vision. Delacato Treatment of Neurologically Handicapped Children”
None of the Brain Gym® movements that supposedly fa- (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1968) was a joint state-
cilitate academic learning actually include academic instruc- ment approved by the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy,
tion as a component; rather, it seems that the purpose of the American Academy of Neurology, American Academy of Pe-
movements is to get the child ready to learn. Furthermore, diatrics, American Academy for Physical Medicine and Re-
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Volume 28, Number 2, March/April 2007
ing and the acquisition of academic skills. They therefore rec- RESEARCH FINDINGS
ommended that the modality model be abandoned in favor
of the development of effective, research-based instructional In spite of the lack of a research-supported theoretical foun-
procedures. dation for Brain Gym®, some research has been conducted
An additional area of perceptual–motor training that ap- regarding the application of the procedures. An extensive lit-
pears to have been incorporated into Brain Gym® is vision erature review resulted in the identification of only five peer-
therapy. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American reviewed journal articles that addressed the effectiveness of
Academy of Ophthalmology, and American Association for Brain Gym®. Of those five articles, only four will be re-
Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus issued a joint state- viewed; one was discarded because the author of that article
ment strongly discrediting vision therapy (American Acad- was one of the four participants in the study (Wolfsont,
emy of Pediatrics, 1998). In that statement, they noted that 2002). Three of the remaining four articles were published in
eye defects do not cause letter reversals and that no scientific the same journal, in which authors must pay for publication.
evidence supports claims that the academic skills of children Rather than describing each study in detail, Table 1 provides
with learning disabilities can be improved through vision an overview. The research described in these articles con-
training or the use of colored glasses. Whereas visual prob- tained serious methodological flaws, some of which will be
lems should be corrected, there is no convincing body of re- briefly discussed here.
search supporting the use of optometric visual training as a Khalsa, Morris, and Sifft (1988) conducted a study to
treatment for learning problems (Keogh & Pelland, 1985; determine whether participation in Brain Gym® activities re-
Sieban, 1977; Silver, 1995). sulted in improved static balance of children as measured by
performance on a modified stork stand test (i.e., on one foot
with the other hooked behind the knee of the supporting leg
Summary of Theoretical Foundations
and hands on hips). Following a pretest measure, treatment
Brain Gym® materials and writings have consistently pro- regimens for the two treatment groups were conducted by an
moted the notion that the exercises “activate the brain” and unspecified number of classroom teachers with children of
facilitate “whole brain learning.” However, Brain Gym® ma- varying ages who attended different elementary schools. The
terials provide no scientific support that the brain needs to be authors did not describe the training received by the teachers,
“turned on,” nor do the materials provide research support re- nor did they identify whether any safeguards were imple-
garding whole brain learning or even a definition of exactly mented to ensure treatment fidelity across teachers and set-
what this term means. These terms appear to be phrases that tings. Because these threats to validity were not addressed, it
capture the imagination and lead the uninformed reader to be- is within reason to assume that the teachers of the treatment
lieve in something for which there is no theoretical support. groups told students that they were doing the Brain Gym® ac-
In fact, research findings have strongly refuted the theoretical tivities to improve their performance on an upcoming stork
foundations on which Brain Gym® was developed. Neurolog- stand test. Furthermore, it is unknown whether students were
ical repatterning has been described as fraudulent, cerebral prohibited from practicing the stork stand during the treat-
dominance has not been linked to learning, and perceptual– ment phase of the study. At posttest, the students were tested
motor training has not withstood rigorous scientific investi- on the stork stand, and the results indicated a significant dif-
gation. ference in the gain scores, with the repatterned group show-
In contrast to claims made by the promoters of brain- ing the most improvement, followed by the movement group.
based approaches, such as Brain Gym®, Bruer (2004) noted Gain scores were computed by subtracting pretest scores
that neurological development is genetically determined and from posttest scores, but the authors’ use of gain scores is of
that there is no research supporting the notion that certain particular concern, due to the unknown reliability of such
movements facilitate neural development. He did note that scores (Thorndike, 2005). The researchers’ descriptions of
for some areas of the brain, such as the visual center, there ap- the data were also contradictory. They stated that there were
pears to be a critical period when sensory input is required for no significant differences between the mean scores of the
proper neurological development. However, he made the case groups at pretest, but when discussing posttest results, they
that much of the rush by educators to provide “brain-based” stated that one group’s initial mean score was “well below
learning opportunities for children is based on information those of the other two groups” (p. 55). Due to the numerous
that is selective, oversimplified, or incorrectly interpreted, methodological errors, the findings of this study cannot be in-
and he strongly urged that educators and the public exercise terpreted with an acceptable level of certainty, but perhaps a
great caution when trying to apply findings from brain sci- more crucial question is whether performing the stork stand
ence to educational interventions. In essence, brain science is educationally relevant and whether the 10 min per day for
has provided information about neurons and synapses but has 6 weeks (5 hrs) of the intervention was a good use of instruc-
not provided information that could guide educational prac- tional time for children experiencing learning problems.
tices in any meaningful ways (Bruer, 1999; Ormrod, 2004; Sifft and Khalsa (1991) described a study conducted to
Seger et al., 2000). determine whether the response time of college students to
120 R E M E D I A L A N D S P E C I A L E D U C A T I O N
Khalsa, Morris, & 60 (30 boys, 30 girls) Group Pre- and posttest Group 1: one 10-min ses- One-way
Siftt, 1988 Identified as having 1: repattern on modified sion in homolateral and ANOVA
LD 2: movement stork stand cross-lateral move-
ages 7–11 yrs 3: control ments and unspecified
eye movement + BG 10
min/day, 6 weeks
Group 2: BG 10 min/day,
6 weeks
Group 3: comparison
Sifft & Khalsa, 1991 60 (30 men, Group Pre- and posttest Group 1: one 10-min ses- Two-way
30 women) 1: repattern on 2 mea- sion in homolateral and ANOVA
ages 19–40 yrs 2: movement sures of re- cross-lateral move-
3: control sponse time ments and unspecified
eye movement + 5 min
BG
Group 2: 5 min BG
Group 3: 5 min of rest
5–15-min interventions
Cammisa, 1994 25 (19 boys, 6 girls) Group served as Pre- and posttest Unspecified BG move- Paired t tests
Identified as having own control on perceptual ments for 1 year
LD and academic
ages 7-4–17-4 tests
De los Santos, 2002 School 1: 390 School 1: Experi- Teacher ratings Group 1 (Experimental): Teacher ratings
students mental group and perfor- played classical music and percent-
School 2: 596 School 2: Control mance on during class time + 20 age of mean
students group academic min/day of brain exer- score in-
ages pre-K–Grade 5 achievement cises crease on
tests Group 2 (Control): regular academic
instruction tests
1-year intervention
two types of visual stimuli could be shortened following a viously noted, are of dubious value due to reliability con-
Brain Gym® intervention. As with their earlier study (Khalsa cerns. Although the authors concluded that the results sup-
et al., 1988), the authors did not describe any procedures to ported the efficacy of Brain Gym®, a careful reading of the
ensure treatment fidelity. At posttest, they reported a signifi- study indicates that the data did not demonstrate that the
cant main effect for groups, with the repatterned group de- Brain Gym® activities were superior to no treatment at all.
creasing response time most, followed by the movement Due to the numerous methodological problems, including the
group, then the control group. However, there were several lack of controls for threats to validity, lack of reliability evi-
methodological problems with this study. The authors did not dence, and inappropriate statistical procedures, the results of
determine whether there were differences in performance this study cannot be accepted with any degree of certainty.
among the groups prior to the intervention, and the data Cammisa (1994) reported that following 1 year of Brain
analysis did not identify an interaction effect—just a main ef- Gym® activities, the participants scored significantly higher
fect that simply indicated that the response time of all three on a test of perceptual–motor skills but not on an academic
groups decreased. Thus, the decrease in response time could measure. However, the author failed to adequately describe
not be attributed to the intervention. Moreover, the authors the study, and there were several significant methodological
computed statistical tests using “gain scores,” which, as pre- problems. The author did not describe which Brain Gym®
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Volume 28, Number 2, March/April 2007
activities were prescribed, whether there was a reason for lished in a journal that is no longer in print, and the citation
choosing a particular Brain Gym® activity, or what were the was insufficient to order the article through an academic li-
frequency and duration of the activities. Furthermore, there brary. However, the majority of the articles listed were not re-
was no control for the variation in age range of participants, viewed, because quality research should be published in
and, as the author correctly noted, it was impossible to at- peer-reviewed journals available through academic libraries
tribute any gain in perceptual development to Brain Gym®, rather than sold by the organization promoting the treatment
because the effects of maturation had not been controlled. or publishing the journals, as was the case with Brain Gym®.
The participants also served as their own controls for the
academic measure, with grade-equivalent scores on a norm-
referenced test used as the measurement. The author assumed CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
that academic growth would be the same for each year, which
could be a faulty assumption, due to extraneous variables In the Revised Teacher’s Edition of Brain Gym®, Dennison &
such as teacher effectiveness, student motivation, or outside Dennison (1994) concluded with a section identifying which
tutoring. Moreover, the author noted that children with dis- Brain Gym® exercises could be used to facilitate learning
abilities were not included in the standardization sample for in a variety of academic areas: reading skills, oral reading,
the academic test. Therefore, the instrument used to measure reading comprehension, thinking skills, spelling, math, pen-
their academic performance had not been validated for this manship, creative writing, clear listening and thinking, self-
use. Another serious flaw in this study was the use of grade- esteem, sports and play, memory, abstract thinking, creative
equivalent scores, which are not suitable metrics for statisti- thinking, speed reading, and test taking. Moreover, they
cal comparisons (Salvia & Ysseldyke, 2004). In essence, this claimed that Brain Gym® movements could improve activi-
study contained so many methodological problems that the ties such as keyboarding and riding in a car, bus, or plane;
results cannot be interpreted with any level of certainty. however, how such improvements would take place was not
The final study obtained was reported by de los Santos identified. Finally, the Brain Gym® home page (“Official
(2002) in an article focused on improving the success of His- Brain Gym®Web Site,” 2005) heading reads “Learn ANY-
panic students in higher education. Interesting enough, the re- THING Faster and More Easily,” and the Web site bookstore
search reported in the article was conducted with elementary includes books and articles touting the benefits of Brain
school students and then extrapolated to university students. Gym® for golf, sales, surfing, attention-deficit/hyperactivity
The intervention consisted of students in the target school lis- disorder, emotional disturbance, fetal alcohol syndrome,
tening to Mozart during the day and participating in activities learning disabilities, Alzheimer disease, salesmanship, sports,
based on Brain Gym®, while students in the comparison and senior moments. Although neither the theoretical founda-
group participated in their usual activities during the school tion nor the peer-reviewed research base supported the claims
year. The author concluded that the intervention was success- of Brain Gym®, the slick marketing approach made it appear
ful; however, comparisons were made using only teacher that Brain Gym® could provide the cure to all that ails
ratings of students in the target school and percentages of in- humankind.
crease in mean scores on academic tests, with no determina- Silver (1995) and the American Academy of Pediatrics
tion of whether the differences between the groups were (1999) noted that research results should be provided in peer-
statistically significant. The researcher did not control for reviewed journals and cautioned against placing much faith
threats to validity or address issues related to reliability of in research from organizations that claim to have “the cure.”
measures or to treatment fidelity. The article concluded with The advocates of Brain Gym® have not followed through on
a recommendation that university students use Brain Gym® this advice and appear to base the majority of their claims on
type exercises before an examination to improve test perfor- testimonial evidence or on research so seriously flawed that
mance but provided no credible research support for that rec- its findings are essentially meaningless. Persuasive testimoni-
ommendation. As with the other studies reviewed, this study als are not sound scientific evidence and should not be the
contained so many methodological flaws that the data cannot basis on which interventions for children with learning diffi-
be interpreted with any degree of certainty. culties are selected.
Taken together, these studies clearly failed to support The American Academy of Pediatrics (1999) noted that
claims that Brain Gym® movements were effective interven- the new generation of pediatricians may be unaware of pro-
tions for academic learning. They were overcome by method- grams such as Doman-Delacato’s repatterning and should re-
ological difficulties, and two studies failed to address ceive instruction on those programs to avoid repeating the
academic learning at all. With the exception of the studies re- mistakes of the past. It appears that this advice would also
viewed in the previous section, the only other research reports apply to educators. For example, Nolan (2004) stated that
located during the review were those listed on the Brain Doman-Delacato’s repatterning was still considered valid,
Gym® Web site and available for purchase. Two of those ar- and Reynolds, Nicolson, and Hambly (2003) wrote an article
ticles were published in peer-reviewed journals and have touting the academic benefits of a perceptual–motor training
been discussed in the previous sections. One other was pub- that included using a balance board, throwing and catching
122 R E M E D I A L A N D S P E C I A L E D U C A T I O N
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Volume 28, Number 2, March/April 2007
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